This is my favorite scenerio to fantasize about because I am an introvert gone wrong. So, I guess the question is pretty straight forward. Imagine you wake up one morning, ready to start the day as you would start any other, only to find that you were all alone. You step outside and all of your neighbors are gone too. You walk/drive around for a little bit and realize that your entire town/city is deserted. As far as you know, you are the last person on Earth.

So what is your plan? Do you just commit suicide and end it all, or do you attempt to continue living? If you chose the latter, then explain what your plan would be. I personally would choose to go on because I will be honest with you, this is my ideal fantasy. I would--in a strange way--actually be happy if this happened to me. I dream of total solitude. Anyhow, I would start off first by traveling to the very edge of my town to avoid any potentially dangerous infrastructure failings since there is no one to upkeep any of it. I'd probably look for a new shelter, like a brick or cement house/building. Somethine sturdy that would not deteriorate with time and could hold its own against harsh weather.

After finding the proper place, I would then hijack a diesel truck and head over to a hardware store and take all the supplies and instruction manuals I would need to install a tall chainlink fence with barbed wire around my dwelling to keep out any wild animals and potential bandits if humans were still alive, just to be safe. I imagine I would probably half kill myself trying to figure out how to install this fence since I'm an urban guy, but, I think in such a situation I would succeed.

After that was over with I would take my diesel truck to all of the local grocery stores and load them up with all of the fresh water and non-perishable foods I could find. Chances are the stores would have enough to last me a lifetime. After going through the back breaking process of getting them to my shelter and storing them, I would then head over to the local hardware store and steal a gas generator and a large freezor. I would then install the generator to power the freezer and load the freezer up with fresh meats from the grocery store before they went bad. Chances are that would be my only fresh meat left until I learned how to hunt.

All of that being taken care of, I guess I would then try to discover ways to keep myself occupied for the rest of my life. I'd probably take the truck back to town and load it up with all of the books and CDs I could find, before the elements destroy them all. And then just live the rest of my life in solitude, waiting for something to happen...

Chances are I would go insane--as I think almost everyone would. However, I do think that I would last longer than most people would before reaching total insanity, since I have always been a more introverted person that enjoys being alone.

EDIT: I wonder how this would affect my religious life, since there would be no clergy to serve the Divine Liturgy, I would never be able to receive the Eucharist again...I would probably go steal a bunch of Orthodox books and try to figure out a way to ordain myself as a Priest without technically violating any of the Canons, and then serve the Divine Liturgy by myself for myself.

After finding the proper place, I would then hijack a diesel truck and head over to a hardware store and take all the supplies and instruction manuals I would need to install a tall chainlink fence with barbed wire around my dwelling to keep out any wild animals and potential bandits if humans were still alive, just to be safe. I imagine I would probably half kill myself trying to figure out how to install this fence since I'm an urban guy, but, I think in such a situation I would succeed.

After that was over with I would take my diesel truck to all of the local grocery stores and load them up with all of the fresh water and non-perishable foods I could find. Chances are the stores would have enough to last me a lifetime. After going through the back breaking process of getting them to my shelter and storing them, I would then head over to the local hardware store and steal a gas generator and a large freezor. I would then install the generator to power the freezer and load the freezer up with fresh meats from the grocery store before they went bad. Chances are that would be my only fresh meat left until I learned how to hunt.

All of that being taken care of, I guess I would then try to discover ways to keep myself occupied for the rest of my life. I'd probably take the truck back to town and load it up with all of the books and CDs I could find, before the elements destroy them all. And then just live the rest of my life in solitude, waiting for something to happen...

Chances are I would go insane--as I think almost everyone would. However, I do think that I would last longer than most people would before reaching total insanity, since I have always been a more introverted person that enjoys being alone.

i'd do all those things. then i'd go around freeing pets from thier homes so they could at least fend for themselves. of course i'd still have my doggies for company. i live in VA about 2 hrs from DC. I guess the Pentagon and the White House have emergency generators. or if i wanted to stay put hospitals, the federal reserve building, the governor's mansion etc would make good places to live.

To James's religious concerns: I would probably conclude that the Church had never been real if I were left alone on earth as a layman or catechumen. Of course, I would have to check the whole planet for priests to be sure that was the case, and that would take a while.

To James's religious concerns: I would probably conclude that the Church had never been real if I were left alone on earth as a layman or catechumen. Of course, I would have to check the whole planet for priests to be sure that was the case, and that would take a while.

Maybe all that would be left would be mutant people who lived underground like in that one Planet of the Apes movie...

Logged

"Christian America is finally waking up to what fraternities and biker gangs have known for years: hazing works!"

I would love to break into government buildings and military installations and see what they have hiding in there. I would be disappointed if it was just miles and miles of filing cabinets.

I'd be confined to the Americas since I can't pilot a plane or a boat. No chance of seeing the sights of the Old World. But there's a lot to see here. The White House would be a convenient home while breaking into the National Archives and all that.

After I got over my delusions of grandeur, I'd probably just explore for the rest of my life, doing whatever random thing comes to mind.

As for religion, one could try playing a recording of the Divine Liturgy with bread and wine and pray that, given the circumstances, it would work out. I've heard stories that some Orthodox Christians did this during the early Soviet period, listening to the Liturgy via radio.

...Until the power goes out, that is; then I don't know. Maybe you could ordain yourself the same way. (Canonically though, a priest cannot do the Liturgy by himself, so there's no point.) Regardless, faith could help get someone through a difficult life with no other people, but it would also be easy to conclude it was all a farce since the disappearance of all humans is not exactly in line with the Church's teachings.

...Until the power goes out, that is; then I don't know. Maybe you could ordain yourself the same way. (Canonically though, a priest cannot do the Liturgy by himself, so there's no point.) Regardless, faith could help get someone through a difficult life with no other people, but it would also be easy to conclude it was all a farce since the disappearance of all humans is not exactly in line with the Church's teachings.

Well I could always take all the bread and wine I could possibly find--perhaps enough to last me the rest of my lifetime, and put it all in a room and play the recording of the Divine Liturgy to make it all Holy and then just partake of the mysteries from that stock. I would probably need to store the bread though in my large meat freezer to prevent it from spoiling over time. As for the radio, I would have a gas generator for the freezer, so I could always recharge the radio from the generator. I think that the hardest thing to do would be to ordain myself a Priest and serve the Liturgy by myself. I would probably have to revert to some of those odd Old Believers' tricks like using the skeleton or relics from a previous Priest to ordain myself. My Church has relics of St. Herman so I could always use his relics to ordain myself--if that is possible.

...Until the power goes out, that is; then I don't know. Maybe you could ordain yourself the same way. (Canonically though, a priest cannot do the Liturgy by himself, so there's no point.) Regardless, faith could help get someone through a difficult life with no other people, but it would also be easy to conclude it was all a farce since the disappearance of all humans is not exactly in line with the Church's teachings.

Well I could always take all the bread and wine I could possibly find--perhaps enough to last me the rest of my lifetime, and put it all in a room and play the recording of the Divine Liturgy to make it all Holy and then just partake of the mysteries from that stock. I would probably need to store the bread though in my large meat freezer to prevent it from spoiling over time. As for the radio, I would have a gas generator for the freezer, so I could always recharge the radio from the generator. I think that the hardest thing to do would be to ordain myself a Priest and serve the Liturgy by myself. I would probably have to revert to some of those odd Old Believers' tricks like using the skeleton or relics from a previous Priest to ordain myself. My Church has relics of St. Herman so I could always use his relics to ordain myself--if that is possible.

Not to worry: there will be no bishop to defrock you if you make a mistake.

To James's religious concerns: I would probably conclude that the Church had never been real if I were left alone on earth as a layman or catechumen. Of course, I would have to check the whole planet for priests to be sure that was the case, and that would take a while.

You could never really finish checking, because by the time you get to where they had been, they could well have moved elsewhere.

Logged

I know a secret about a former Supreme Court Justice. Can you guess what it is?

To James's religious concerns: I would probably conclude that the Church had never been real if I were left alone on earth as a layman or catechumen. Of course, I would have to check the whole planet for priests to be sure that was the case, and that would take a while.

You could never really finish checking, because by the time you get to where they had been, they could well have moved elsewhere.

Haha good point.

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“There is your brother, naked, crying, and you stand there confused over the choice of an attractive floor covering.”

To James's religious concerns: I would probably conclude that the Church had never been real if I were left alone on earth as a layman or catechumen. Of course, I would have to check the whole planet for priests to be sure that was the case, and that would take a while.

You could never really finish checking, because by the time you get to where they had been, they could well have moved elsewhere.

It's true I could never be absolutely certain. But, especially if the Internet is still working, I could make a reasonable effort to search the world for priests and let the hypothetical priests know I was looking for them. And if I saw no sign, anywhere, that there were any priests left, I'd seriously start to wonder about the Church.

I might never have an excuse to give up entirely, though. Point taken.

To James's religious concerns: I would probably conclude that the Church had never been real if I were left alone on earth as a layman or catechumen. Of course, I would have to check the whole planet for priests to be sure that was the case, and that would take a while.

You could never really finish checking, because by the time you get to where they had been, they could well have moved elsewhere.

It's true I could never be absolutely certain. But, especially if the Internet is still working, I could make a reasonable effort to search the world for priests and let the hypothetical priests know I was looking for them. And if I saw no sign, anywhere, that there were any priests left, I'd seriously start to wonder about the Church.

I might never have an excuse to give up entirely, though. Point taken.

Well they could have moved underground to catacombs to evade the Four Horsemen.

Logged

“There is your brother, naked, crying, and you stand there confused over the choice of an attractive floor covering.”

...Until the power goes out, that is; then I don't know. Maybe you could ordain yourself the same way. (Canonically though, a priest cannot do the Liturgy by himself, so there's no point.) Regardless, faith could help get someone through a difficult life with no other people, but it would also be easy to conclude it was all a farce since the disappearance of all humans is not exactly in line with the Church's teachings.

Well I could always take all the bread and wine I could possibly find--perhaps enough to last me the rest of my lifetime, and put it all in a room and play the recording of the Divine Liturgy to make it all Holy and then just partake of the mysteries from that stock. I would probably need to store the bread though in my large meat freezer to prevent it from spoiling over time. As for the radio, I would have a gas generator for the freezer, so I could always recharge the radio from the generator. I think that the hardest thing to do would be to ordain myself a Priest and serve the Liturgy by myself. I would probably have to revert to some of those odd Old Believers' tricks like using the skeleton or relics from a previous Priest to ordain myself. My Church has relics of St. Herman so I could always use his relics to ordain myself--if that is possible.

Lots of sacramentology fail in this thread.

I'd act like Mad Max.

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Apart from moral conduct, all that man thinks himself able to do in order to become acceptable to God is mere superstition and religious folly. - Immanuel Kant

When I was younger my favorite scenario to fantasize about was being able to stop time (except for myself).

I remember that being the premise for an episode of The Twilight Zone. I think in the end that the owner of the stopwatch, after he had stopped time one too many times, accidentally dropped the watch and broke it.

I'd go and find a wild place, like a forest, or maybe I'd go all out and travel to a jungle. I'd make a tree house, a big one, and live with the animals.

It's something I wanted to do as a kid

Just make sure it isn't with a former zoo tiger. I hear they are testy.

LOL. That never crossed my mind as a child. All I knew is that I wanted to quit school and go live with animals (probably a result of watching The Wild Thornberrys on Nickelodeon too much). I had it all worked out somehow

I'll move on to the capital, try to tame a cat or a dog along the way, and then look for survival guides in librairies And finally I'll settle in a big parisian hotel. I'd be quite depressed, being alone... Well there's a lot to do, but ideas will eventually come by as the days pass Or maybe travel around all Europe, by "borrowing" ( ) cars.

PS : A gun or two might be a good thing against animals roaming in the streets

I would probably assume I was in Hell, because "Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in their midst" so if I was alone two or three couldn't gather, and the Church would endure until the end of time, and there is no Church in Hell. Plus the Desert Fathers story about the guy who was wiser than St. Antony saying he believes everyone but him will go to heaven for their good deeds, while he alone would go to Hell for his evil deeds.

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Where even the last two or three are gathered in His name, He is there in their midst.